


Fun Home

by astrovivir



Category: Original Work
Genre: Coming Out, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Schizophrenia, an au kinda, based off of Fun Home, lit it's the same exact plot just w my characters, small mention of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 11:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10786269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrovivir/pseuds/astrovivir
Summary: Based off the musical Fun Home and the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel of the same name.





	Fun Home

**Author's Note:**

> Characters belong to me.   
> Fun Home belongs to its respective owners.

July 25th. A baby girl is born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis in Pennsylvania. She doesn’t cry, instead she just stares and blinks, smiling every so often. The baby is named Jody. For the next 5 years Jody doesn’t speak much. 

7 year old Jody has a diagnosis now. Schizophrenia. She doesn’t talk much still and rarely cries, but her behavior is quite aggressive. 

10 year old Jody. Long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She chases her father around the house, pleading for him to take a break from his work to play “Airplane” with her. He gives in and lays on the ground, lifting his legs slightly so Jody can lay on his feet. They intertwine their fingers together and Jody’s father lifts his legs. She soars above him, slowly and shakingly putting her arms and legs out. 

“I can see all of Pennsylvania.”

Sometimes Jody’s father appeared to enjoy having children, but his real love was his house. Everyday he would clean and rearrange objects to his liking. It tired Jody out with how much he worked on the house. She didn’t take change well. 

10 year old Jody and her 7 year old brother make a fake commercial for the funeral home that their family owns.

10 year old Jody is in a restaurant with her father. She sees a delivery woman walk in. Her short hair, those clothes, her boots, and her ring of keys, they all seemed right to Jody. 

10 year old Jody’s father tries to make her wear a pink dress. 

“I hate it! What’s the matter with a shirt and pants?” She argues.

“You’re a girl.” Her father argues back.

“I won’t wear it.” Jody is facing a wall, arms crossed and foot down; mirroring her father’s own pose.

“Every other girl at this party is going to be wearing her prettiest dress. And you’re going to wear a t-shirt and trousers? That’s ok with me, but you’ll be the only girl without a dress. People are going to talk about you. Is that what you want?” 

Her father’s words didn’t travel to Jody in a normal tone. They traveled to her in a monstrous voice and pierced through her like a bullet. It wasn’t her father. It was a monster dripping with black liquid and had shiny red eyes that burned into her back.  

“Well? Go ahead. Change.” 

But Jody didn’t move. 

“Well?” 

Jody finally turned, slowly and shaking. She looked at the monster that was her father.

“Maybe.. Not right now.” She said in a small voice.

Her father smiled coldly.

“Good.”

10 year old Jody was scared. 

12 year old Jody hears her parents fighting in the next room over. She imagines a happier family, a family that didn’t fight, a family that spent time with each other and enjoyed it. She uses this family to cope for the next two years. She gets rid of the family when she’s 14. 

15 year old Jody is confused with her identity. 

16 year old Jody cuts her hair in a short bob style. She’s happy with her hair for once. 

18 year old Jody applies to Oberlin College and gets accepted. She’s going to study art for the next four years and become a cartoonist. 

18 year old Jody stands outside a door with a sign on it. ‘Gay Union’ the sign reads. She doesn’t go in. 

18 year old Jody meets a girl named Isis. She has long hair and blue eyes. Jody likes her. 

19 year old Jody finds a book in the college library about sexuality. She reads a bit of it and quickly puts it back on the shelf. The next day Jody goes back and buys it. She knows what she is now. 

19 year old Jody comes out to her parents through a letter. They don’t reply back fast enough. 

Jody talks to Isis about her sexuality. 

“I don’t think I’m attracted to boys or girls. The book talked about Asexuality and I think that’s what I am-”

Jody rambles on until Isis suddenly kisses her. They stare at each other and then they start kissing again. They make love that night.

“J.? What’s wrong?” Jody finally receives a letter from her parents. ‘Dear J., big week at the Fun Home. I ended up working two 18 hour shifts. Bad for my blood pressure. We got your letter, well kid talk about a flair for the dramatic.’ She reads to Isis. “What does that mean?” She asks her.

‘Your mother’s pretty upset though. But I’m of the opinion that everyone should experiment.’

“Seriously?” Jody feels tears welling up in her eyes and she quickly wipes them away. 

“I'm sorry.” Isis says, sitting next to Jody and taking the letter before she does anything with it. 

“It’s the tone of it. He can’t deal with me! You know what, he never could. He never could!” 

Jody cries. Isis comforts her. 18 year old Jody is hurt that day, her hallucinations get worse from then on.

19 year old Jody gets a call from her mom explaining her frustration about her daughter being gay. “Your father, J. I should have known before.” Jody calls Isis right after.

“No, what? Your dad?! Are you ok?”

“I-I don’t know. I’m fine, I think.”

“Are you sure? Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No, I don’t even wanna think about it. I want- I don’t know.” 

They talked. 

Jody and Isis visit home. 

“Oh my god I don’t want to go in.” 

“It’ll be ok.”

“How will it be ok? Everything’s- ok, ok. Who knows? C’mon. Let me introduce you to my gay dad.”

They walk in. 

“Hello? We’re here.” 

Jody hears Isis gasp in awe behind her. 

“What? What’s wrong?” 

“You described it but I had no idea.”    
Jody remembers that most people live in normal houses, not victorian era mansions. 

“You’re here..” 

Jody hears her mother and turns to her. She’s scared.

“Hi mom.” 

Isis goes to help Jody’s father polish things while Jody and her mother talk. 

“Shortly after we were married, we went on a drive to Paris. He wanted me to meet a friend of his from the army. Halfway there he started screaming at me. He went crazy. I was terrified.. Later I found out that man had been your father’s lover.. I should have known.”

Jody looks at her mother a different way.

“I don’t know how you’ve done it.” 

Her mother looks at Jody.

“Don’t you come back here.. I didn’t raise you to give away your days, like me.” 

They hug. 19 year old Jody’s life is never the same. 

Jody sits in the dining room. Alone.

“You ready to go for that drive? Jody? Kiddo?” 

She looks up and her father is standing in the doorway, keys in hand. 

“Yes.”

“Do you wanna drive?”

“No, it’s fine you can.”

They get in the car, sitting in an awkward silence. Neither of them wanted to confront the other first.

“There’s this uh.. Club. It’s kinda hidden away. A place for folks like- y’know. Could be fun.”

“Dad, I’m not 21..”

“.. yeah, right.”

Another awkward silence. Jody stares out at the telephone wires.

“There was a boy in college. My first year there. I wonder where he is now.. I was 14. You know, lots of boys mess around. It was a game they outgrew, but I always knew.”

“Dad, me too! Since like five, I guess. I liked to wear boy shirts and pants. I hated wearing those dresses. I honestly tried to deny my feelings for girls, but I was like you!”

Her dad doesn’t answer. Did Jody even talk? She doesn’t think so. Maybe she thought it up in her head only. 

“Hey, did I mention that new project I’ve taken? You’ve seen it J., that old barn on route 50? It’s been standing empty for 40, maybe 50 years-”

He talks, and talks, and talks. Talks about the unimportant things. Jody doesn’t listen.

That was their last night. 

Jody and Isis go back to the school. Jody gets a letter from her mother that her father had taken his life shortly after Jody had left. She’s not sad, or angry, she doesn’t feel anything. 

She goes back home for the funeral. 

19 year old Jody doesn’t miss her father as much as she should.

23 year old Jody graduates college. 

32 year old Jody begins her graphic novel entitled: Fun Home. She digs through boxes to regain memory. She finishes the novel and publishes it.

33 year old Jody visits her father’s grave. She says nothing and puts a copy of ‘Fun Home’ on his headstone. She lays down on the plot of grass in front of the headstone and watches the clouds.

Airplanes fly past. 


End file.
